I was a little boy sitting in an ice cream shop in Kahului. The time was close to noon and the place was mostly empty with the exception of me and my hanai parents.
A couple of customers were leaving after paying for three vanilla ice cream cones. Rose and Daniel my hanai parents were busy talking about her niece Sally who had just purchased a house with her husband Roland. They were now living in a new development just west of the old sand dunes. I happened to glance over at the cashier, she was an older Hawaiian woman who pointed to the floor. "There's a quarter there, pick it up and you can have it!"
I didn't need any more encouragement to rescue the shiny twenty five cent piece from the dirty floor. I was off of my chair and standing in front of the quarter in mere seconds, I squatted down to retrieve it and a hand that had hair on the back of it with splotches of grease and oil on the arm slapped mine away. I cowered back and held my hand to my chest. It was a mechanic in his coveralls and work boots. He had a 50's D.A. haircut and smudges of grease on his face and his neck.
"I was looking for that quarter, it's my lucky one. Don't touch it!" He snapped.
"Why?" I replied. "Finders keepers!"
"No get smaht keed! I slap you right in front of your parents!" He showed me the back of his hand as if he were going to strike me.
"If that's your lucky quarter how come stay on the floor?" I squeaked.
"The thing flew out of my pocket after I got run over and killed right in front of this shopping center. Da quarter has been going from person to person since then and I been following this quarter so no touch 'um!" The greaser snapped and switched stances every few seconds and I knelt down and held out the quarter to him and watched his ghost disappear into it. " I have a use for you," I whispered into the quarter. "And it has to do with killing my adopted parents."
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